Chapter 3

EDWARD'S POV

"Could we stop there?" Bella pointed towards a group of stores.

"Where?" I looked around.

"The toy store. I want to get Derek something…so that when he wakes up, he'll have something nice."

I pulled into a parking spot, and Bella shot into the store.

I was happy that she was happy, but I didn't want her to get too attached to this kid. He was a nice looking kid, and I knew he needed a family…

"Edward, what do you think of this?" Bella showed me a stuffed animal tiger.

"It's cute."

"I don't know…the tiger might scare him. What about a teddy bear? But there are so many…help me pick one."

I helped her look through the teddy bears, and she finally found one she liked. I paid for it, with resistance from Bella, and then we were on our way to the house.

Rosalie and Alice were waiting, Rosalie was pretty mad.

"Where were you two?" She tapped her foot, and flickered her eyes to me.

"We stopped somewhere, just cool it." I snapped.

"Alright children, let's not fight." Alice grabbed our shoulders.

Bella put the present for Derek away, and then joined us downstairs.

"Alright, so first of all, this lady isn't the one after you." Alice said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Well first of all," Rosalie started before Alice could open her mouth, "she's in a wheelchair. Second of all, from what we gathered, she hadn't spoken to either of her sons in a long time. We asked her about the boys in the pictures, and she just told us that she had last seen them two years ago for Christmas."

"So Lucas's mom is out. Who else does that leave?" Bella asked.

"Well, the other brother. Unfortunately, we couldn't snag a picture, and even if we could have, there weren't any recent ones of him. All of the pictures were from when Lucas and his brother were younger."

"Looks like we have some more research to do." I sighed.

"Well maybe Rosalie and I can do that too. I know you guys are still tired and…have things to talk about." Alice stood, and pulled Rosalie to her feet.

Bella looked over at me, puzzled.

"Alright." I said through clenched teeth. Nice going Alice.

When they had gone, Bella turned to me.

"We have things to talk about?" She asked, letting go of my hand.

"Bella, it's about Derek. Are you sure it's the best thing to be seeing him?"

"Why shouldn't I? He's an orphan, and he's hurt. Why shouldn't I see him?"

"Maybe, you just want to see him because you…can't have kids."

The slap across my face surprised me. Never, could I have imagined Bella striking me. As I looked at her, tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and her face was angry.

"I'm sorry for hitting you." She stood, and ran outside, almost running right into Esme.

"What was that all about?" Esme asked, concerned.

"Bella and I had a fight about Derek."

"Who?"

I told Esme about Derek, and about the trip to the toy store…and about what I had said.

"Oh no Edward." Esme sat down.

"I didn't mean for it to sound mean. I just don't want Bella getting hurt."

"You think she'll want to change Derek if he doesn't pull through, don't you?"

"Don't you?"

She shook her head, smiling. "No. She felt bad after killing that Dustin man, and she had a good reason to do it. Bella might want to change Derek, but she wouldn't be able to do it."

"Should I go after her?" I stood, and looked at the door.

"I think she would want you to."

"Thanks Esme."

"Just be careful Edward."

I ran out the door.

BELLA'S POV

Charlie wasn't back from work when I got to his house, so I let myself in.

The kitchen was still the same, as if nothing had changed. I sat down in one of the chairs, and covered my face with my hands, crying.

It wasn't because I couldn't have kids, it wasn't about hitting Edward, or what he had said. Well it was because of what he said, but only because it was true. The only reason I wanted to visit Derek was because secretly I hoped he wouldn't come out of the coma.

If he didn't, I could change him. I wanted to hit myself for even thinking that. It would be better for Derek to pull through, than for me to change him. I couldn't change him, I wouldn't be able to do it.

Now I knew how Edward felt about changing me. Suddenly I felt like a bad person, an evil person…a monster.

I heard a car pull in, and stood. If Charlie saw me crying, he would go after Edward.

I wiped my tears, and went to the door. But, the car that pulled up wasn't Charlie's. It was a black truck.

I opened the door, and came out onto the porch.

Just as I did, the truck's car door opened up.

My eyes widened. "Father Ernest?"

"Bella. Hello." He pulled a gun from behind his back, and aimed it at me.

Charlie's car was just driving down the street, and he must have seen the gun, because the car screeched to a halt, and he came flying out.

"Charlie, stop!" I shouted.

Father Ernest turned, and fired the gun at Charlie.

"CHARLIE!" I screamed.